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Train Station Bench

This double-sided bench is a relic from when the Senate of Canada Building served as Ottawa’s central train station (1912-1966). This historic seat, and 11 others like it, used to fill the station’s waiting area. Each could seat up to 12 passengers looking to rest as they waited for their train.

When the station closed, the benches were removed and eight were transferred to a new national museum in Ottawa. The museum refinished the benches’ Tiffany-style lamp fixtures and mahogany woodwork and exhibited them in a railroad heritage gallery.

In a series of fortunate events, the Senate secured one of the benches in 2018 as it prepared to move into the rehabilitated train station at 2 Rideau Street. The bench was reinstalled in its original home, now the foyer of the Senate of Canada Building, where it reminds visitors of the building’s rich history and senators’ former mode of transportation.

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